Blood On The Walls
by darkestboy
Summary: As Martha makes future plans, Owen and Ianto are kidnapped by a murderous cult. Set between The Doctor's Daughter and The Stolen Earth.


**Name:** Blood On The Walls  
**Characters: **Jack Harkness, Martha Jones, Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, PC Andy Davidson, Rhys Williams, Bilis Manger, Original Characters, Tom Millgan  
**Synopsis: **When Morgan Bishop pays a visit to Cardiff, both he and Jack soon cross paths upon a recent spate of murders. Are they sacrificial or are they aliens using humans in order to grow body parts? Elsewhere, Owen and Ianto find themselves kidnapped by a crazed cult and Gwen and Toshiko have no choice but to accept Bilis' help in order to rescue them. Set between the **Torchwood **episodes _Something Borrowed_ and _From Out Of The Rain_ and the **Doctor Who** episodes _The Doctor's Daughter_ and _The Stolen Earth_.

_I do love a great train journey. Nothing like sitting back, enjoying the view before arriving to your desired destination_.

However, there were some things that Morgan Bishop wasn't so fond of when it came to train journeys and those usually consisted of unhelpful assistants, screaming children, delays, and those people who tip their hats to introduce themselves while simultaneously giving you the creeps. Those were the kind of things he could've done without seeing.

Of course, that didn't matter too much. With an I Pod at the ready and Craig Armstrong's "Wake Up In New York" deafening the whining of a hyperactive five year old boy and his frazzled mother, Morgan pretended he was in engrossed in a book but in reality, the book was shielding an article that had consumed his full attention.

_I knew it would happen again. I knew it. Now I'm going to find out what really happened_.

Seven years ago, Morgan had come across the body of a young man whose stomach had exploded. That was gory enough, but the stringent smell from the cadaver had been what really set his teeth on edge. No-one had believed him about the smell because they themselves couldn't smell a thing, but Morgan did and it disturbed and intrigued him.

The article he had been reading had been a report from a local hospital in Cardiff about three bodies with similar explosive stomachs. They had been no mention of that stringent smell, but Morgan was determined to find out whether or not they were linked. Maybe it was a coincidence, but Morgan doubted. So many strange things had been happened in London over the last three and a half years and Cardiff, and he was determined to get an answer to at least one of them. An actual answer, rather than some jumbled theory or a contrived statement from either UNIT or Torchwood.

"Good afternoon, young man," an older man dressed rather strangely, wearing a cravat, said to him. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"I guess," Morgan replied, too focused on re-reading the article hidden under his book to properly acknowledge the stranger. Then he realised they had stopped and he was in Cardiff.

"Finally," Morgan hummed, shoving the book into his bag and stepping off the train. For a second he was disappointed that no-one was here to meet him but seeing as he didn't live in Cardiff, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised.

The only people he knew in Cardiff were a few associate journalists who had moved down here a few months ago, but he didn't have the kind of camaderie with them to impose on their hospitality and he had already booked himself a cheap motel. Besides this wasn't a work assignment anyway.

He had tried to pitch to the newspaper he was working for, but they weren't interested so he made up a spiel about going to an aunt's wedding, which they believed without question. However, once he was there, he realised he didn't want to go to his motel straight away so he decided to walk around the place for a bit.

In the Hub, Gwen had come home from her honeymoon earlier than expected. Everyone was glad to see her, even though Owen couldn't help but joke that they had just gotten rid of her.

"Yeah, that's what I said about you," Gwen smiled, planking herself down on a chair in the boardroom. "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Not so much as a Weevil sighting," Owen moaned. "It's like when you left, all the aliens in Cardiff decided to bugger off as well. Maybe you should go away more often."

"Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of making a girl feel welcome," Gwen snarked back at him. It was playful; there was no trace of malice in their trading of insults.

"I don't think Owen could ever lose that trait." Jack smiled as he entered the Hub. "But aren't you back from your honeymoon just a tad too early?"

"Maybe I should go away more often." Gwen smiled, hoping that Jack wasn't actually being serious. Sometimes she had difficulty knowing when he was sincere and when he was taking the piss. "Has it really been that boring without me?"

"Not anymore, it hasn't," Ianto said as he entered the room, holding two files and dropping them down. "I think we're about to be double booked."

"And these are?" Jack asked, his eyes cocked.

"Case file number one, a spate of exploding chests in a local hospital," Ianto announced, not even reading the files. "Case file number two, a series of young men being abducted in the last forty eight hours by a mysterious cult."

"How many is a series?" Owen broached the subject.

"Fourteen."

"How on Earth are fourteen men snatched in two days?" Gwen asked.

"That's what you're going to have to find out," Jack told her, suddenly assuming his role as head of Torchwood in a flash.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to take the exploding bodies," Jack told them. "Ianto and Owen, you're with me. Gwen and Tosh, take to the streets, research the missing men, talk to their families, try to find some kind of link. I can't see it just being fourteen complete strangers."

"I'll get some supplies," Owen said as he left the boardroom. Getting to investigate a medical phenomenon never failed to be boring to him. It also took his mind off his own unnatural status as well, well hopefully it would he thought.

"We'll go now," Gwen said as she and Toshiko left the boardroom themselves. Jack only half paid attention as they left.

"Alone for about another five seconds," Ianto pointed out, looking at his watch, while Jack a flirtatious look.

"I guess we'll have to make use of the time." Jack smiled, reciprocating the flirtatious look as he pulled the tea boy in for a kiss. Of course the presence of Owen coming back into the room effectively killed the mood.

"Not interrupting anything, I hope," Owen said, giving them a knowing smile.

"Not even if you tried your hardest." Ianto smiled back as the three of them left the Hub and headed to the hospital, taking the SUV as Gwen and Toshiko had driven off in the latter's car.

Morgan had found himself settling into the motel fairly well. The receptionist wasn't overly friendly but that didn't essentially bother him. For some reason, he was feeling rather antisocial so not having the distraction of some receptionist blathering on about how glamorous London was a blessed relief. He just asked for St Joseph's Hospital and the woman managed to oblige in giving him some directions.

As Morgan was stepping out of the motel, he got the faintest feeling that he was being watched but decided to automatically dismiss it. He had been tired and the train journey was long and he hadn't had a proper sleep in at least two days. His bouts of insomnia was kicking up and his over consumption of caffeinated products wasn't doing him much favours either. His father had told him to lay off the coffee but he couldn't usually go an hour without one of them. He checked his phone for texts and missed calls and noticed there was a few. He'd answer them later.

As he stepped into the hospital, he noticed three men walking out. One was dressed in an outfit that was at least over 60 years out of date while the other two were dressed more smartly but casual, though one of them was in an expensive suit, the kind that Morgan was more likely to rent that afford. Then he realised they were Torchwood.

He considered for a second that he could just skip the hospital and actually talk to them but like UNIT, Torchwood had a tendency for either bending the truth or flat out lying. He properly stood more of a decent chance in getting a straight answer from the hospital and so he headed inside.

"I think he was lying," Ianto quipped, regarding the conversation they had with Dr Bernstein.

"No shit, Sherlock," Owen muttered.

"What crawled up your ass?" Ianto responded. Usually he could tolerate Owen's pithy remarks but this wasn't one of them.

"Nothing!"

"Guys," Jack snapped. "Less of the squabbling. If he won't tell us the truth, we'll have to get it another way."

"It'll take ages to get an access all areas to get into that place and Bernstein seemed determined to make it impossible for us to even talk to other staff that were on the nights of those deaths," Ianto said, not wanting to state the obvious but seeing as no-one else was going to, he just did.

"I don't care about red tape. I'm still getting answers."

"I think I've had my fill of menacing doctors," Owen remarked, thinking of Aaron Copley, the bastard responsible for his death and this current limbo-esque status he was now in.

"You too should go back to the Hub, find out more about our Mr Bernstein," Jack instructed them.

"I'm going to go for a walk. I need some head space. Let me if Gwen and Tosh come up with any leads on those missing men."

"Sure," Ianto confirmed as he stepped back in the SVU, letting Owen take the role of driver.

As they drove off, Jack just stood there. He desperately wanted to know more about the mystery deaths but he'd have to wait until dark in order to get a proper investigation. He also figured that with Owen and Ianto out of the way, he stood a better chance of getting more done as well.

Owen had been extra tetchy when interviewing Bernstein and his comment about having his fill of menacing doctors obviously meant that his 'death' was something that largely still played on his mind. Then again, given that Jack himself was plagued with what it meant to live forever, he could relate to Owen's plight.

He tried to be a sympathetic ear to Owen, but his friend wasn't the touchy-feely type by nature and Jack decided to leave it. He stood a few feet away from the hospital, out of view, unaware that a further few feet away in a bustling coffee shop, Morgan was doing the same thing but far more discretely to boot.

"I just said if you have something on your mind, you might as well spit it out rather than making snide remarks," Ianto protested. "It's not like you're usually shy when it comes to telling others exactly what you think about them."

"You know, just for once, Ianto," Owen replied, agitated at the tea boy, "I wish you'd keep that smug trap of yours shut. You think you know everything, don't you?"

"I never said that," Ianto told him, his voice surprisingly hurt. "It's just, I know-."

"No, Ianto, you don't have the foggiest idea of what I'm going through," Owen pointed out. "I'm dead. I can't breathe, sleep, eat, drink, go to the toilet or even fucking have sex. When something like that happens to you, then maybe you can lecture me about knowing what it feels like."

"I'm sorry," Ianto murmured.

"Don't be." Owen put his hands on a desk, facing Ianto. "It's just being in that hospital, talking to that slimy bastard. It just brought it all back, that's all."

"Oh, such a pity," clapped a voice from the background shadows, making itself known. It was a man in his early fifties, grey hair, a little stout but at the same time, still looking like someone who could overpower a man half his age in a fight.

"Who are you?" Ianto snarled, pointing a gun and taking an instant dislike to the man in question. Owen began to reach for his own.

"My name is Dante and you two are coming with me," the man replied, his statement a command more than anything else.

"I don't think so, pal," Owen huffily replied but as he turned around, another man had jumped Ianto, clamping his hand over the tea boy's mouth, taking his gun. When he turned around again. Dante had pointed a gun straight to his forehead.

"As I was saying, you're coming with me."

With that, both men were dragged out of the Hub, only minutes before Gwen and Toshiko were set to return, their paths completely missing each other.

Martha had been setting up her apartment for a romantic evening. Tom had managed to snag a few days from Africa to come back and visit her and she decided to make the most of the time they were going to have together. Not only did he still have his work there but she had also received a promotion from UNIT to New York.

It had been something of a funny time for Martha in the last couple of weeks. She had gone to Cardiff and nearly got killed by a mad scientist and also witnessed the phenomenon of a living dead person with Owen's condition. Then her reunion with the Doctor had her faced with Donna, Sontarans, Jenny and the Hath. Right now, Martha was happy to have a little quiet time.

The lock on her apartment door began to turn and before she could answer, Tom had stepped with an overnight bag and a bunch of roses. More importantly was that infectious smile he also had.

"I missed you," Tom beamed as he dropped the bag and walked over to his fiancé, both of them embracing in a warm hug upon meeting each other. They were genuinely glad to see each other.

"That's good because I've got some big news of my own," Martha smiled, leading him into the kitchen. Tom was intrigued as to what this news could be.

Gwen and Toshiko had re-entered the Hub, a little alarmed that the doors had remained unopened. Toshiko had been carrying a fair share of files with her, while Gwen had carried a lighter load. Both women had only interviewed about six of the victims' families, friends, co-workers, etc.

"I think we should widen things out a bit more, maybe do things separately," Toshiko wondered, figuring it would help in narrowing things down.

"I'm going to get a hold of Andy, maybe he might know a thing or two about these disappearances," Gwen told her, putting the files down and reaching for her mobile.

"Does he still want to join Torchwood?"

"I'm not sure. He only hints about it every now and then. More importantly I plan to find out why he was a no-show at my wedding," Gwen responded as she began dialling.

She waited for a few minutes before realising that where Andy was, he was otherwise engaged. Gwen frowned a little because while the no-show at her wedding was a sore point due to him being one of her oldest friends, the fact that he wasn't himself in the last couple of months had been something that had worried her a little.

Of course with all the wedding preparations and all the recent craziness that was happening with Torchwood, Gwen admitted to herself that she hadn't been the best of friends to Andy. In fact, she'd even go as far as to say that she had practically ignored the poor bloke.

"He's not picking up," Gwen told Toshiko. "I might call over to his place or the station. See if he's alright."

Toshiko hummed an 'a-ha' to her as Gwen walked out of the Hub. She had drifted from Gwen's discussion of Andy to looking at some of the victims online, in particular, the first seven. Their files read as ….

John Salinger, 33, Stockbroker, married to Dinah Salinger, one daughter, Elisa.  
Paul Bennett, 24, Gym Instructor, single.  
Ivan Mendes, 31, Lecturer at Cardiff University, married to Kate Mendes.  
Karl Peterson, 29, Barman, single.  
Donald Michaelson, 39, Civil Servant, single.  
Evan Holder, 26, Radio DJ for Cardiff FM, single.  
PC Andy Davidson, 27, Police Officer, single.

"That can't be," Toshiko stammered.

Together her and Gwen had only talked to six people from that list. She looked at the name again and then the photo and realised that the seventh person they had missed out on was in fact.

"Oh shit," she murmured, and then grabbing her phone, she began to dial the very person who had left less than three minutes ago. "Gwen, you need to get back here, I think there's something you're going to be very interested in seeing."

In a disused, derelict church, Weevils had taken over and slept there. They did until about a week ago when a sinister cult more or less and evicted them and taken over the place, using various alien technology to smokescreen the church in a bid to ward off any potential intruder.

The cult members consisted of twenty people, both male and female, various ages, ethnic minorities and life experiences but all of them unified in a common goal. To become leaders, to have the ability to choose between life and death and to essentially have dominion over Wales to begin with and eventually the world.

It was an ambitious scheme but not one that wasn't thought out in advance. For they had heard of the legend of Abbadon and wanted to use his abilities to their own advantages. They had tried enlisting the help of the beast's most loyal servant Bilis but when they let slip that they viewed Abbadon as little more than a threat, he disappeared, uninterested in allowing his master to become a servant to greedy human beings.

For the past two days, they had managed to kidnap an impressive array of fourteen men from different backgrounds and walks of life. None of them had anything in common, except that their blood could be the key in raising the demon, that couple with the fragments of the resurrection glove that Dante had previously swiped from Torchwood without their knowledge.

Two of the men had unfortunately escaped, which meant that for the cult, there were going to have to work a bit faster before authorities or worse still, Torchwood discovered what they were up to but Dante's need to rub the alien fighting organisation the wrong way had result in him seeking out two of the male members as sacrifices. He said it was fitting given that it was Torchwood who had slain Abbadon in the first place.

Ten of the remaining men had been bloodied out, with a part of the church now resembling a slaughter house as flickers of blood decorated the walls, floor and some pillars. The rest of them were bound and gagged to pillars, in total fear about the gruesome fate that was awaiting them.

They had to witness their fellow captives being killed so brutally and the very scene had shocked them to the core. Each remaining man, David Tranter, a tall thin brown haired man, smartly dressed and clearly on the verge of a breakdown, and Andy Davidson, still in his copper's uniform felt the need to hurl in the face of the horror of this macabre, hellish experience.

Andy had been struggling with his bonds, desperately trying to get free. He had wound being kidnapped by three of these crazed lunatics when he had seen David being bundled into the back of a car. He had tried to save the man but had been unable to and as a result, he had been snatched himself.

David muffled a whimper through his cloth gag, his eyes looking at Andy, who had been unable to get free. Andy diverted his eyes, looking at every available get out he could find but every window had been boarded up. Then suddenly he heard voices.

"Right we are, lads, make yourselves at home," Dante smirked as him and Julian had dragged both Owen and Ianto in the church. Both men had their hands tied behind their backs and were tape gagged.

Ianto muffled through his gag when he saw Andy and Owen just stared at Dante with contempt, something that amused the unhinged older man more than anything else.

"Something you want to say, Dead Boy?" Dante smirked as he ripped the tape off Owen's mouth. Julian did the same to Ianto.

"Who the hell are you people?" Owen stuttered, his voice unable to conceal his fury, even though he was making the conscious effort not to lose his cool, especially given the physical damage Dante could inflict on him and also because he wanted Ianto safe.

"Maybe you should ask your friend, there." Dante smiled, eyeing Andy. Julian went over and undid Andy's gag. Andy just glared at both Owen and Ianto, unsure of whether or not he was happy to see them.

"Are you alright?" Ianto asked.

"Never better," Andy muttered furiously, giving Ianto the nod that his anger was directed at Dante and not him.

"Who are these people?" Owen asked, trying to get out of Dante's grasp but failing as he held a tight grasp on him.

"Fanatics," Andy murmured. "I was trying to rescue David here and the bastards jumped me." Then Andy noticed that David's lips had been parched. "For Christ sake, give the poor guy a drink. It's bad enough you made us watch you-."

"The fourteen men, you killed them," Owen stammered, realising what Andy was getting at. "You sick, twisted, halfwits-"

Before Owen could finish that sentence, Dante placed the tape back over his mouth, pressing it tighter as a means of expressing his annoyance over Owen's choice of words.

Julian threw Ianto to the floor with a thud and then Owen joined him, trying to yell through his gag. David's had been removed long enough for Julian to give him something to drink and then it was tied tighter when he had finished drinking. Julian stroked the young man's hair and cheek and Ianto could see that he was frightened by the other man's lascivious affections. Every time he tried to turn away, Julian would hold onto his chin to keep him looking at him.

Then again, out of the four of them, David was probably the only one that knew next to nothing about aliens and crazed fanatics like Julian. Ianto had recognised David as one of those extras from a few commercials but the question remained as to why they were still alive and why fourteen men were so needed. Owen had no blood so Ianto was trying to wonder what use he could be to them.

"I'm going to get us out of here," Ianto whispered to Andy, though not exactly quietly, not that either Dante or Julian took heed.

"Might want to do that sooner than later, pal," Andy replied, tugging at his restraints and still finding no give. Owen and David just stared at each other before looking at Andy and Ianto.

Morgan had spent the last four hours in a coffee house and by now, even his liver was marinating in the stuff but it had become dark and as a result, he felt the urge to use a bathroom. Sneaking into the hospital had been somewhat easier than he had expected to. Even when a security guard found him loitering about the place, Morgan's fib about getting hired as a porter had surprisingly worked.

Once inside, Morgan had decided to take a little look around the office of Dr Bernstein. He had seen the man leave and decided that now would've been the best opportunity to break into his office.

Morgan wasn't an expert in breaking and entering but he had surprisingly little difficulty in getting into the man's office. Once he was inside, he went for the file cabinet and started pulling out some of the most recent files. Before he could even open up the first one, he heard a familiar American twang of a man he just about knew by reputation rather than person.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who had the same idea," Jack smiled, eyeing up the young man about to open the first file in his hand. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"Whatever," Morgan dismissed him. Both him and Jack might have been after the same thing but their motives were entirely different. "Close the door before someone actually finds us in here."

With that, Jack had closed the door and made his way towards Morgan, who still didn't look at him but did extend the decency to introduce himself to the American man.

"I'm Morgan by the way and I already know you work for Torchwood."

Gwen hadn't come straight back to the hub after Toshiko had told her about Andy. Instead she went to talk to some of his friends, his father and then she visited the station and demanded to know why anyone hadn't told her he was missing. Of course, getting angry hadn't helped her and soon enough, after clearing her head and surrendering to Toshiko's constant phone calls, she returned to the Hub.

Toshiko had pulled up a couple of more names from the missing people which read onscreen.

David Tranter, 27, Actor, single.  
Marius Fritz, 39, Sous Chef, married to Isabella Fritz.  
Austin Gregory, 28, journalist, married to Freda Gregory.  
Sebastian Fuller, 34, PE Teacher at Cardiff Elementary, single.  
William Rinnerman, 30, Bookkeeper, single.  
Andres Florence, 35, lawyer, married to Abigail Florence.  
Peter Garrison, 41, Club Owner, married to Yvette Garrison, children, Ava and Daphne.

"I haven't been able to find out a damn thing about Andy's disappearance," Gwen blurted out as she entered the Hub. Her expression grew more grim when she viewed a certain man was standing beside Toshiko.

"Apparently we're in luck," Toshiko smiled weakly. "Look who's come to our rescue."

"Bilis," Gwen muttered, her voice evident in her disdain at having to see him. She still hadn't forgotten what he had done to Rhys.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Cooper," Bilis smiled at her, ignoring the hostility that Gwen was literally radiating. She might not like him but if she wanted to save Cardiff from becoming blood bath, she'd put her grievances aside and allowed Bilis to help her save the city. After all, it wasn't like Jack was around to save the day.

"You're the last person I'd expect to help us." Gwen said as she folded her arms and walked around Bilis and Toshiko. "What's in it for you?"

"Maybe I should explain why I'm here in the first place-" Bilis started, pressing his hands on Toshiko's desk, almost to emphasis a relaxed manner he felt. It irked both Gwen and Toshiko to see him behave so calmly, even though given their previous altercations with him, Bilis wasn't someone who lost his temper quite so easily.

"It's about those missing men, right?" Gwen presumed, desperate not to get caught up in what mind game Bilis had up his sleeve.

"Oh, my dear Miss Cooper, those men you talk of being missing are probably dead by now."

It galled Gwen to hear how cavalier Bilis sounded when he told her that. A part of her wanted to grab him by the throat but he'd disappear before she'd so much as tense a muscle. Besides she also gathered that Bilis wasn't finished.

"You mean Andy's-" Toshiko stammered, expressing concern for the police officer and Gwen's friend.

"As far as I can tell he's still alive," Bilis told her, before looking at Gwen intently. "Two of the men escaped — Ivan and Karl, I believe they were called. I helped them. I couldn't get to your pal Andrew."

"What kind of person or monster would kill twelve men?" Gwen asked.

"The kind that are hell bent on raising my master." Bilis grimaced darkly. "That's who."

"I thought that would be something you would want" Toshiko looked at him, not forgetting the image of her mother Bilis had shown her.

"After what you lot did to him," Bilis snapped at her, "that would be the last thing I would wish on him. There's more anyway."

"Such as?"

"There's a cult, a following, a group of misguided individuals who think that by resurrecting Abbadon that they could hold dominion over life and death," Bilis elaborated. "Regardless of what you people might think of me, my motives never have extended to such heights. These people are dangerous."

"What people?"

A familiar face had entered the Hub and while it would've been preferable given the circumstances for that face to have been Jack, Gwen's heart still raised when she saw Rhys. Her husband on the other hand seems a little confused when she instinctively ran over and hugged him protectively.

Having both Bilis and Rhys in the same room stirred some unpleasant memories for Gwen. While Rhys was blissfully unaware of events in the past, Gwen could remember feeling his lifeless body, the thick smell of his blood on her hands as Bilis had been the one who had killed him in cold blood. The fact that Bilis looked at Rhys like an animal snaring its prey really made her want to shoot the old man.

"Have we met?" Rhys pointed at Bilis, addressing him with caution. Bilis could tell that Rhys wasn't stupid but still he didn't have time to get reacquainted.

"I don't think so," Bilis snootily told him. "I just came in here to pass on some information to Miss Cooper and Miss Sato."

"It's Williams also," Rhys said as Gwen's wedding ring was now visible on her hand. It was only now that Bilis had noticed it.

"You still haven't told us everything," Toshiko reminded him, then remembering that the SVU was outside. "I should phone Owen and Ianto."

"That was the other thing," Bilis realised. "Your friends, Mr Jones and Mr Harper. They've been a bit detained."

"Detained by what, Bilis?" Gwen asked, stepping a bit away from Rhys, now really contemplating taking out her gun.

After an hour of whimpering through their gags, Julian decided to let Owen and David speak and took pleasure in causing the former a bit of irritation when removing his gag. Owen just glared at the man. David looked a little calmer than before but Ianto and Andy could still tell he was freaked out by all of this.

"It's gonna be alright, mate," Owen assured him, struggling with his bonds. "We'll get out of this."

"I believe you," David told him, wanting to believe in Owen's words more than anything but almost unsure as to whether or not he should.

He remembered thinking when Dante and Julian had snatched him, they were going to rob him and perhaps let him go. That would've been preferable to what he had to witness in the last two days instead.

"Ianto said that too," Andy cynically pointed out.

"And I meant it," Ianto snapped while positioning himself to sit up. Both he and Owen had the advantage of not being tied to any pillars but that could change if Dante felt like they could buy some time.

"What exactly is going on here?" Owen addressed the question to both David and Andy. Neither of the men were given the opportunity to answer when Dante stepped onto the altar.

"What's going on here, Dead Boy is that we're raising Abbadon. I'm sure the name rings a bell, seeing as you lot murdered him and all," Dante smirked at Owen.

"More like a fucking gong. What kind of halfwits are you? Do you know how dangerous that thing is if you unleash it?" Owen bared his teeth in anger while struggling with his bonds.

"Language Mr Harper. Do you kiss your mother with that tongue?" Dante tutted at him.

"I've done more inventive things with it." Owen smiled at him.

It was enough to get Dante to grab Owen by the neck and slam him against the pillar with David tied to it. Dante looked at Owen menacingly but Owen refused to give him an iota of fear.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you." Dante smiled.

"I'm already dead, Dumbo." Owen smiled back at him. "You ain't getting a drop of blood from my body."

"We only needed thirteen anyway," Julian called out to him. Owen could see that Julian had a knife to Ianto's throat. "And your friends here are going to be the last lucky three to give their lives to our mission."

Julian used the knife to point at Ianto, Andy and David, almost to murmur the numbers eleven, twelve and thirteen in its place.

"What's the matter? Not so keen to give it all that now, are you?" Dante smirked. "Your friends are getting it easy. You on the other hand, I will probably enjoy tearing apart, little by little that you'll beg for me to finish you off for good."

Owen just stared at him, unsure of what to say next. He wasn't in a position to fight his way out of this and neither was Ianto. Dante violently flung him to the floor where his head laid beside David's feet. Julian and Dante then took Ianto in the next room, agitating him even further.

"Ianto!"

"So why exactly is a nice, normal young man such as yourself breaking into a hospital to steal medical records?" Jack asked, curious to get to know the young man a little more.

"If I was stealing them, I would've left by now," Morgan castigated him without looking at him.

"You know it's rude to talk to someone without giving them a bit of eye contact," Jack cajoled, then realised. "Are you a journalist?"

"Yes," Morgan told him, "but that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?"

"That's none of your business," snapped the young man at Jack and then something on the file he was looking really got his attention. "Damn it."

The picture of a young man from 2001 — Gareth Anthony. The reason why Morgan had been so interested was staring at him in the face but with Jack here on Torchwood duty, there was a bigger obstacle in his quest for some answers, which was going to get derailed.

Morgan stared at Jack and a million thoughts simmered in his head. He had to admit that aesthetically, Jack was a fairly attractive man, though probably the kind of man who thought he was better looking than he actually was and then there was the notion of working with him.

Blurting out, 'damn it' when reading Gareth's file meant he let a cat slip out of the bag but he had done that earlier by effectively telling Jack that his reasons for ransacking the hospital's patients files had nothing to do with his line of work. Maybe he could work with Jack but given Torchwood's reputation, he was going to play his cards close to his chest on this one.

"What's up or is that 'none of my business' also?" Jack asked, his voice almost sounding worried.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," Morgan stammered huffily. "Why are you here?"

"I believe I asked you first."

"Personal stuff," Morgan told him. From the sound of his voice, Jack figured that was probably all he was going to get for the time being.

"You mean like the mystery of several patients having exploding chests?"

"How did you?" Morgan realised, then gave Jack a weary look. "Of course, Torchwood, alien related. Right."

"You've heard of us?" Jack raised an eyebrow, his interest in Morgan suddenly piqued.

"Your reputation precedes you, I'm afraid," Morgan admitted, not viewing this as a moment of weakness, given that he had already admitted to knowing about the existence of aliens. "That being said, from what I've read, discretion isn't your forte. A Blowfish in Cardiff? Let me guess, one of your off-days, huh?"

"Long story." Jack smiled, prepared to amp up the charm. "How about we skip the bout of mistrust that's practically radiating from you Morgan and we work together as a team?"

Morgan paused for a second and realised that whether he liked it or not, right now all he had was Jack as an ally. Whatever this hospital was hiding, he was more likely to find out with Jack by his side.

"Sure." Morgan shrugged as he shoved the file on Gareth down his bag, discretely but not enough for Jack to miss seeing it. "Just try not to retcon me when this is all over."

Jack smiled and with that, the two of them made it out of Bernstein's office. Both of them had read enough files and now needed to see some patients. Jack had tried contacting the Hub as he walked behind Morgan and found that was unable to do. No-one was picking up but that was something he'd have to worry about later.

"You're moving to New York?" Tom sounded surprised. "When did this happen?"

"About three days ago," Martha told him. "I guess UNIT felt that I could be useful to our American liaisons but if it's an issue, I can always-"

"It's not an issue," Tom smiled at her. "It just seems so sudden. I guess since we've been going out with each other, we've usually had a country keeping us apart, one way or another. Does the Doctor know?"

"I haven't told him," Martha paused. "Last time we saw each other, he had a rough time of it and I haven't been keeping in contact with him and Donna all that much anyway, what with work and all."

"How does your family feel about it?"

"Surprisingly, they're taking it well," Martha smiled. "They're insisting on a going away party, so you're going to have to intend that one, Mister."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Tom smiled as he sipped from his glass of wine. Martha just smiled at him intently.

She had landed a good man with Tom, there was no denying that but she knew the move to New York would make things a little harder on their relationship. Still long distances don't always see in the end of a good relationship and at some point when they would get married, they'd have to find some neutral ground and stay in a place where both of them could do their jobs effectively.

Jack and Morgan looked around the hospital before taking a detour into the ICU. Morgan noticed that he had been trying to contact his team with little success but he resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment. Besides this whole debacle would reveal to him what kind of a man Jack Harkness really was.

"Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, Ianto when you get this, can you please pick up, it's urgent," Jack whispered, almost not wanting Morgan to know that he couldn't contact his team.

"We're here," Morgan whispered lowly, looking at all the patients in the ICU. "Is it me or are they-"

"Knocked out?" Jack finished the sentence for him. "I'd say someone's hit them with a strong enough sedative alright."

Jack moved over to take a look at a young woman — Ellen Woods from the look of her chart. Jack felt her forehead and immediately pulled his hand away given the heat that was radiating from it. The other thing he had noticed about Ellen was that her stomach was practically doing somersaults. Morgan had picked up on this took as he looked at another patient — Alan Moriarty doing the same the same.

"What the hell is happening to these people?" Morgan asked, very perturbed, with a familiar knot in his stomach.

"That's what I want to know," Jack murmured, righteous anger in his voice. "Who however is going to tell me might be problematic."

"What about we ask the guy with the gun pointed at us?"

"What guy-," Jack stopped himself when he saw that Bernstein had entered the ICU and was pointing a 9mm at both him and Morgan. He had the look of a man whose pet project was about to be spoiled.

"I had a feeling you'd come back," Bernstein stared blankly at the two of them, his grip on the weapon tightening a little as he walked slowly towards them.

"Yeah, I'm sort of predictable in that way," Jack smiled, not giving Bernstein one iota of fear. "So now that I'm here, why don't you tell me exactly why all of these people are in an induced slumber with their stomachs writhing?"

"Now why would I do that?" Bernstein smirked.

"Because we're going to figure it out anyway and you just telling us gets to the point," Morgan interrupted, then looking at Jack. "I don't know about him but I've never been a fan of surprises so what's going on?"

Jack smiled, impressed with Morgan's audacity. "Well, answer the man."

"Fine," Bernstein grimaced. "Since you're going to die anyway, what's going on here is that thanks to a creative drug I've manufactured, I can create alien life out of human beings."

"Figures," Morgan realised. "That smell."

"What smell?" Jack asked, not realising that Morgan was the only one who could catch the faintest traces of it. Even Bernstein couldn't get it either.

"As I was saying, my little drug creates alien life, but only in body parts," Bernstein smiled as his eyes darted to all the patients that were there. "So, these dead human hosts, I really think I should emphasis the notion 'dead' help grow all the parts and by the looks of it, I think dear Ellen is about to sprout me the first part. And as for you -"

The last sentence had been for Jack's benefit as Bernstein shot him point blank in the head. As Jack fell down, Morgan checked on him and was horrified to see that the Torchwood had in fact been killed.

"Oh don't worry, I don't intend on sparing you either," Bernstein continued smiled as he was ready to shoot Morgan in the head.

Morgan snarled at Bernstein and noticed a bed pan by his side. With a ferocity he picked up the pan and smashed Bernstein hard across the face, almost making his jaw snap. The two men fought for ownership of the gun, each pushing or punching the other in order to get it. Morgan eventually got the gun and was about to shoot Bernstein in the head.

"Don't," a voice called out to him. Morgan didn't turn back, didn't flinch, even though he realised said voice had belonged to Jack who was standing up.

Jack's resurrection shocked Bernstein. He looked at Jack dumbfounded at first and then angered, almost as if Jack didn't have the right to be resurrected. Jack was tempted to let Morgan pull the trigger and if Bernstein wasn't needed, Jack would probably pull it himself. Men like Bernstein were out and out bastards. Jack had no compassion for this man.

"How did you do that," Morgan asked, still not looking at Jack. "Are you an alien?"

"No, I'm definitely not," Jack assured him. "And it's a long story but nowhere hear as fascinating as the one Bernstein here is going to tell us."

"Which is?" Bernstein snarled.

"How do we stop this creature from taking form?"

"You can't," Bernstein smirked. "What's done is done, there's no going back."

"He's lying," Morgan glanced at Jack. "There's always some way to stop this kind of thing."

"I agree," Jack cleared his voice, then looking at Bernstein with a steely glint in his eyes. "So I'll ask you again, how do we stop this?"

Before Bernstein could answer, the body of Ellen was shaking intensely, pounding furiously until her stomach just exploded. Blood hit the back of Jack and Morgan, enough of a distraction for Bernstein to try his luck with overpowering the latter and regaining ownership of the gun. His luck failed when out of the exposed stomach had risen an alien arm. It was a mixture of red, green and brown, looking almost if it had been flayed alive.

The arm went straight for Bernstein, wrapping itself straight around his throat, choking him for dear life. Both Jack and Morgan tried in vain to get the arm off the physician but when it snapped Bernstein neck, it then pinned Morgan to the floor, choking him. Morgan struggled to get his breath, furiously trying to remove the thing from his neck, Jack also tugging on to do the same.

Morgan felt that he was beginning to lose his sight as not only did the arm continue its bout of strangulation but that smell only he seemed to smell was becoming overpowering, intoxicating even. Morgan then got even more fearful when he saw Jack reloading his gun and aiming it at the arm. After three bullets had entered the arm, narrowly missing Morgan's face did let go of him.

Morgan got up to his feet, catching his breath and giving Jack a wary look. Jack picked up the arm and studied it with acute fascination before turning his focus to Morgan.

"Are you okay?"

Morgan rubbed his neck, keeping his eyes on Jack. "Yeah. Good job you know how to use that thing. If I had been able to speak properly I could've told you I have a taser in my bag."

"Now you tell me," Jack smiled, then staring at the hand. "I need to find out more about this thing."

"Thought you were having difficulty contacting your team," Morgan asked, letting slip that he knew they were AWOL.

"Let's just say I have other people who aren't on my payroll," Jack pointed out, then speaking down. "Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale, quick question I got to ask."

As Jack moved away a little from Morgan, the latter began to notice that the other bodies were also beginning to rattle and shake persistently. Getting off the phone had been perfect timing as well.

"Jack, I think we've got more company," Morgan stammered, stooping down slightly to rummage in his bag, looking for his taser and sighing a brief sense of relief when he was able to locate it.

Back into a corner, Morgan had his taser and Jack had his Webley, thankfully with enough bullets in it for good measure. What happened next could resemble a slaughter with the amount of blood decorating the floor, walls and now both Jack and Morgan's clothing. They looked on in horror as body parts were beginning to slowly connect themselves into making an alien.

Back in the church Owen had still been struggling to get free as were Andy and David. All three men expressed a sense of impatience and frustration that soon became a more familiar feeling of worry when Julian came back and cut both David and Andy loose from their pillars. Their hands were still bound behind their backs. David was thrown over Julian's back and the gun pointed at the back of Andy's served as an indicator for the police officer to go.

"Where are you taking them?" Owen stood up coming towards Julian.

"It's time," Julian murmured, "and seeing as you're so eager, you can watch your friends all die."

Owen sighed and then grimly realised that he was seriously screwed. There was no more words as they began to enter a darker area of the abandoned church. Whatever was going to happen next, Owen reckoned he would need a miracle or Gwen, Toshiko and Jack to stop it. Both him and Ianto had failed to save Andy and David and all those other men senselessly murdered by Dante's deranged gang.

Back in the hospital, Jack and Morgan had found themselves in a pickle. If they didn't move fast, they'd be dead by the time the creature assembled itself but at the same time they needed to be practical. It wasn't as if they could just throw themselves at the thing. Well, at least in theory, any other person wouldn't.

"On my lead," Jack whispered to Morgan. "Five, four, three, two-"

Jack didn't finish that sentence and Morgan could see him scrambling over at the creatures, grabbing it's torso in a bid to keep it separate from all the other parts. Morgan had picked up on this and advanced towards the right arm, which hadn't been decorated with bullets from Jack's Webley. Instead, Morgan shocked it with his taser, before grabbing furiously onto a foot that kicked him in the cheek. Morgan winced but refused to let go of the foot.

"Is this what your friend told you on the phone?" Morgan asked Jack, who had just about managed to shove the torso into a nearby bin and denting it just so it wouldn't escape.

"Yeah," Jack chuckled nervously. "Martha said that by keeping each of the parts separate, the creature can't come to life."

"Oh," Morgan stammered, using a glucose drip to bind one of the other legs to a random bed. "What about the head? That's the only other part I don't see lying about."

Before Jack could answer that question, a head surfaced out of nowhere and made it's way to attack both of them. In a weird way, the scene looked so ridiculous but with it's menacing jaws about to take a bite out of Morgan's foot, Jack was quick on the draw with his Webley. It took five shots before the head just slumped. Jack had practically obliterated it's skull and the floor was lined with a disgusting purple/pink sludge that nearly both him and Morgan want to retch.

"I'm guessing we burn the remains, right?" Morgan asked as he removed some gunk from his hair. "Last thing you want is those things coming back to life."

"Yeah, definitely," Jack murmured as him and Morgan began to use some blood stained bed sheets to snare every single body part, including the entombed torso in the bin and dragging them outside. The one thing about this hospital is that they had a very handy furnace during times like this.

Not a word was said between Jack and Morgan while outside. Both of them just looked silently on and watched as piece by piece, the alien creature that had taken so many lives was being burnt. It wouldn't make up for the lives that were lost but at least they both could take some comfort in the fact that Bernstein wouldn't be using any more ill patients in order to make himself an alien.

Elsewhere in a darker area of the church, a circle of twenty cult members ensured that David, Ianto and Andy were bound and gagged to a sacrificial altar while Owen was also bound and gagged to a chair, struggling to save his friends. The men were terrified as Julian and Dante walked around at first shaking some weird kind of incense on them, slightly burning them as well.

"Let us go," Ianto muffled through his gag. Even sandwiched between David and Andy he had no distinct advantage of breaking free. He could look at them and Owen with pity and the cult members with fury.

The weird thing was that Ianto knew what it was like to do something dangerous for something or in his case, someone you loved. He had almost lost his friends once because he was blinded by his love for Lisa but the motives that this cult had were unspeakable.

During the alone time, Julian had let slip more about their plans to rule dominion over the life and death of anyone of their choosing. When Ianto had voiced his disapproval and tried to reason with him, they gagged him.

"I don't think so," Dante smiled. "Why on Earth would I bother collecting you if you weren't going to usher in the arrival of our glorious dominion?"

"You're mad!" Owen muffled.

"Once this works, you'll see how mad I can get, Dead Boy," Dante glared at him for a second before brandishing a knife and flashing Andy a sickening smile. "I think I'll kill the copper first. Never was a fan of a man in uniform."

This made Andy shudder a little but he wasn't able to move away from the spot he was bound and as the knife was about to draw to his throat and slice, a gunshot distracted everyone, including Dante.

Standing there were Gwen and Toshiko, armed and ready. Bilis had also stood there with them brandishing a plank of wood in his hand, a quiet look of menace on his face. Neither Owen nor Ianto were particularly thrilled to see the latter but given that one of them was going to be used in a mad bid to raise Abbadon, it did feel oddly appropriate.

However if Bilis was there with Gwen and Toshiko, then the only logical answer is that he mustn't want Dante and his gang to successfully raise Abbadon either. That was relieving but hell would freeze before either Owen or Ianto would actually trust Bilis.

"Oh look it's the cavalry and their butler," Julian smirked. "How ever will we get out of this one?"

"Let them go," Gwen demanded, coming closer and keeping a tight grasp on her gun. "I won't ask you again."

"I've got a better idea," Julian smiled at her and then gave the other eighteen cult members a knowing look before yelling in a war cry fashion. "Tear them apart!"

With that, Gwen and Toshiko found themselves in the worst position ever. With eighteen members out to kill them, they had to get past them in order to rescue their friends and some young man they'd never met in their lives. With Bilis, fists had flown, people were wounded via gunshots but they still weren't anywhere near the sacrificial altar.

As Dante had aimed to slice Andy's throat, David had managed to deliver a deadly kick to the man, sending him flying. It was around this time that Ianto had gotten to his feet and dodged being stabbed by Julian, only to have his bonds cut loose. Ianto used this advantage to deliver an almighty punch to Julian's face, sending him hurtling.

Ripping the tape off his mouth, Ianto had freed both Andy and David, who also removed their gags and began to take on certain members. In the midst of the fight, a vengeful Dante decided to escape and had untied Owen from the chair and threw him over his back.

Owen had tried kicking but it was to no avail. Neither Ianto, David, Andy, Gwen and Toshiko in the midst of fighting for their own survival could get near enough to save Owen from the mad man.

"I'm going to enjoy making you pay for this defeat," Dante snarled as he tried to drag Owen outside.

"Screw you," Owen whimpered inaudibly through his gag. He still couldn't get out of Dante's grip. The man was surprisingly stronger than most men, including Jack.

Of course, Dante wasn't going to get very far himself when Bilis appeared out of nowhere. Bilis always had a menacing look about him but even Owen could see that there was something extra creepy about him this time.

"Out of my way, old man," Dante snapped at Bilis. "I'll not ask again."

"Oh I don't think," Bilis smiled at him, brandishing the knife that only minutes ago was in Dante's possession. "See you tried to make a mockery out of my master and I just can't allow that to go unpunished."

Before Dante could come out with a smart comment or a threat, Bilis slashed his throat quickly without flinching and Dante slumped to the floor. Owen was then dragged up to his feet by his neck and Bilis slammed him into a corner.

"Don't try anything stupid, Mr Harper," Bilis smiled, revelling in Owen's confusion.

Owen muffled his assent and with that, Bilis removed the tape off his mouth. Owen winced a little before Bilis used the knife to cut his restraints. Before Owen could turn around, Bilis had disappeared. When he did turn around, he saw several cult members that were dead, knocked out or wounded. Gwen, Ianto, Toshiko, Andy and David were bloodied, bruised and tired.

"That was some evening," Owen said, breaking the silence.

"Where did Bilis go?" Toshiko asked.

"I don't know," Owen told her. "He untied me and then he left. He killed Dante by the way."

"Good," David stared at his tormentor's body, a coldness in his eyes.

"We're gonna have to take a statement from you," Andy told David, then looking at Owen, Toshiko, Gwen and Ianto. "From all of you, this is a police matter now."

"We have to tell Jack," Toshiko reminded everyone else in the church.

"Yeah," said Owen. "Where the hell is he when you need him?"

As they wondered about their leader, Jack and Morgan had walked for a while before standing outside the Hub. Morgan was tempted to step inside but Jack had been curious about something.

"That file you took, who did it belong to?" Jack asked nonchalantly.

"You saw that?" Morgan sounded impressed.

"Yeah."

"A friend of mine had leukaemia," Morgan explained, his voice trailing. "He was treated in St Joseph's by Bernstein. He died, his stomach was opened up and so I thought there might have been something in those recent deaths."

"Now that you know there was, how do you feel?"

"I thought I'd feel better," Morgan confided in Jack, "but I don't. This whole world is riddled with so much disaster and death. Are all aliens just killers?"

"Not all," Jack reassured, then thinking about the Doctor. "I know one, who's magnificent and has saved the world on many an occasion. I think you'd like him."

"Yeah, well maybe one day I'll meet him," Morgan chuckled, only half-serious.

"Stranger things have happened," Jack smiled, then looking at the several calls and messages on his phone. "Woah, God, I think I have some explaining to do. Goodbye, Morgan."

"Yeah, bye," Morgan smiled, shaking Jack's hand. "Maybe I'll see you again someday."

"You could always join y'know."

"What, Torchwood?" Morgan asked, taken aback by Jack's offer a little.

"I think I've demonstrated that we're not as bad as the press makes we are," Jack said proudly because at this rate he could see that Morgan's opinion of Torchwood seemed far warmer than it had done earlier in the night. "Besides I'm sure we could put your journalistic talents to some use."

"As tempting as that offer might be, I do have a life back in London," Morgan began his refusal. "And it's also one that I want to get back to pretty soon, so I'll have to decline."

"Can't blame a man for trying."

"Guess not."

With that, both Jack and Morgan had begun to take their separate paths. Morgan had gone back to his hotel and showered for about four times until he was positively squeaky clean and took the earliest train back to London. He briefly looked at Gareth's file, remembering fondly of his best friend.

Back in the Hub, Jack had heard all about the gang's ordeal with the crazed cult as well as Bilis' help. He explained about the alien in the hospital but didn't elaborate on Morgan helping him. When everyone else had left, both him and Ianto had taken advantage of the couch for an intense make out session.

Lying serenely on the couch, a blanket covering them, Jack and Ianto smiled at each other tentatively.

"Now this what I want to come home to after a night of alien slaying," Jack smiled at his lover, caressing his face.

"I know the feeling," Ianto smiled back at him and with that, they just kissed each other and focused on nothing else.

- The End -


End file.
